Aug. 7, 2008

Properties from Detroit to Iron River were among seven Michigan properties listed in the National Register of Historic Places during the month of July.

"Michigan's historic properties are among its greatest assets," said Dr. William Anderson, director of the Department of History, Arts and Libraries. "Historic structures are an important component of dynamic, vibrant places where people want to be. The properties designated in July are located in Detroit, East Jordan, Iron River and Marquette and they demonstrate the enthusiasm throughout our state for history and its preservation."

The recently designated properties are:

East Jordan Lumber, 104 Main St., East Jordan, Charlevoix County

The East Jordan Lumber Company Store housed one of East Jordan's earliest commercial enterprises, established about 1880, when the newly settled village was at the beginning of its lumber industry-based early boom. The company constructed this larger brick store on the site of its original wood building in 1899. A general store operation that for much of its history offered groceries, dry goods and clothing, crockery and glassware and hardware, the Lumber Company Store remained in operation until its remaining grocery and hardware departments, occupying separate halves of the building, were sold in 1938 and 1939. Successor grocery and hardware stores continued in business in the same storefronts into the 1950s.

The Votruba Block, 112 Main St., East Jordan, Charlevoix County

The Votruba Block, built for James J. Votruba in 1899, is significant for its associations with a successful East Jordan businessman closely related to a locally important ethnic community known as the "Bohemian Settlement" that was part of a broader movement of Czechs or Bohemians to the northwestern Lower Peninsula of Michigan in the later 19th century. Votruba, a member of a pioneer family in the Bohemian Settlement, operated a harness shop and then a general store in the building most of the time from the building's construction until his death in 1928. In its early days the building's upstairs served for a time as a lodge hall and social and meeting place for the East Jordan area. With its bracketed iron cornice, tall round-arch windows and decorative façade brickwork, the building, recently rehabilitated as part of the Main Street Center that also includes an adjacent commercial building constructed at the same time, stands as a locally notable example of Late Victorian commercial architecture.

Floyd and Todd Wright Builders, Main Street Properties of East Jordan LLC, the City of East Jordan, and Presley Architecture received a 2007 Governor's Award for Historic Preservation for the rehabilitation of these two structures.

Central School, 218 W Cayuga St., Iron River, Iron County

Central School was Iron River's largest public school building, from its initial construction in 1904-05 until a new high school was completed in 1928. The school initially served as the high school for the entire school district, which served all of Iron River Township, including the village, and also as the primary school (K-8), for two of the district's four subdistricts within the village. Following the completion of the high school, the building served grades K-8 and then later as a middle school until its closing at the end of the 1979-80 school year. The school building, enlarged in 1910-11 to its present size and form, is an architecturally distinguished example of early 20th-century public school architecture planned by two prominent Midwest school architecture specialists, Van Ryn & DeGelleke of Milwaukee (1904-05 work) and John D. Chubb of Chicago (1910-11 additions).

Marquette & Western Railroad Negaunee Freight Depot, 420 Rail St., Negaunee, Marquette County

The Marquette and Western Railroad's Negaunee depot is significant as a piece of railroad network critical to this iron mining community. The depot was built in 1884 as a freight and passenger depot, but only served one year before the line was bought by its competitor, the Marquette, Houghton and Ontonagon. Used for offices and then as a warehouse, the depot was moved a short distance in 1912 and used by the Duluth, South Shore and Atlantic Railway as a freight depot until 1965. It is one of the oldest buildings in Negaunee's downtown and one of the oldest depots in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. The largely intact Stick Style depot reflects Negaunee's early 1880s growth and development as a result of the expansion of the iron mining industry.

The Majestic Theater, 4140 Woodward Ave., Detroit, Wayne County

An architectural and visual landmark along Woodard Avenue, Detroit's "main street," the Majestic Theater is the largest, and likely the most colorful, enameled metal panel Art Deco façade in the entire Detroit metropolitan region. Detroit-based theater specialist C. Howard Crane designed the Majestic, which opened on April 1, 1915, with an arcaded Italian facade. The theater was medium-sized among Detroit's early 20th-century movie theaters, originally seating 1,651 patrons. The striking Art Deco façade of the Majestic Theater was constructed in 1934-35 when, because of the Woodward Avenue widening project, the front 35 feet of the theater had to be removed.

Garden Bowl, 4120 Woodward Ave., Detroit, Wayne County

Garden Bowl continuously operated as a bowling alley since its opening in 1914. It is Detroit's oldest operating bowling alley and one of only two left in a city that was once one of America's leading bowling towns. The building's present appearance is largely the result of changes made in 1966 to respond to the rapidly growing suburban exodus from inner-city Detroit ? a critically important aspect of the city's history that continues to have a major impact on its character today ? and the ongoing need to attract customers from an evolving population base.

Helen Newberry Nurses Home, 100 E. Willis, Detroit, Wayne County

The Helen Newberry Nurses Home was built in 1898 to provide housing for student nurses attending the Grace Hospital Training School for Nurses at a time when the concept of trained nurses was just emerging internationally. The prominent architect Elijah E. Myers, especially known for his work on government buildings, including the Michigan State Capitol, designed the building. Myers (1830-1909) is the only architect to have designed five state capitol buildings. In addition to Michigan he designed statehouses for Texas, Colorado, Idaho and Utah. Moving to Detroit in the early 1870s, at the time his Michigan State Capitol was under construction, he practiced there almost until his death. During this time he designed many notable buildings throughout southern Michigan including several churches and the Grand Rapids City Hall. One of his most significant Detroit designs was the Harper Hospital; built in 1884, it was demolished in the early 1970s.

The State Historic Preservation Review Board considers nominations to the register three times per year. The review board forwards nominations to the keeper of the National Register, Department of the Interior. In Michigan, the State Historic Preservation Office coordinates the National Register program. For information on the National Register of Historic Places and other programs of the State Historic Preservation Office, visit www.michigan.gov/shpo, or call (517) 373-1630.

The State Historic Preservation Office is a division of the Michigan Historical Center, part of the Department of History, Arts and Libraries. Dedicated to enriching quality of life and strengthening the economy by providing access to information, preserving and promoting Michigan's heritage and fostering cultural creativity, the department also includes the Library of Michigan, the Mackinac Island State Park Commission and the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs.

Read more press releases from the Department of History, Arts and Libraries (HAL).